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yeehaw_agenda's review against another edition
5.0
A highly enjoyable, deeply rich portrait of a family and what family means.
emmacr2024's review against another edition
3.0
The Long Hot Summer the second book by Irish writer Kathleen MacMahon has been a long time coming. Her first release This Is How It Ends was way back in 2012 and at the time attracted lots of attention as her first two books had been bought for £600,000 at The London Book Fair. Was it worth paying that price? I'm not so sure. Did this new book live up to the hype surrounding its predecessor or did it succumb to the threat of the difficult second book? To me this book had so much potential but it fell a bit flat there was something missing that I can't quite put my finger on. Yes, it is an enjoyable enough summer read but I feel the author was hoping for a little more depth which wasn't achieved. I remember reading her first release and thinking what was all the fuss about? Is this really it? I never had that ahh moment and the same could be said for this book, so much potential but unfortunately never fully delivered.
The book opens as Deirdre - matriarch of the MacEntee family is glancing back through the scrapbook she has made over the years since she had her first encounter with now ex husband Manus. Having recently arrived from Kildare she fell head over heals for Manus and thought their union would last a lifetime. She had wanted to try her luck at becoming an actress and to some extent she was successful until the arrival of three children – Alma, Acushla and MacDara. Deirdre is now at the later stages of her life and feels age creeping up on her. Numerous things are starting to go wrong health wise and she realises she is not the sprightly young thing she once was. So Deirdre makes a momentous decision. When she has come to this conclusion she sets about arranging her birthday party where she will tell her family what the future holds. What immediately struck me was why on earth did Deirdre believe her solution would in any way help her family? To me there was no necessity for that idea to even enter her head. It would bring unnecessary hardship and suffering on a family who had been through so much.
After we meet Deirdre the rest of the book is split into segments. I say this because they are not chapters as such but longer. In each section we meet a new member of the family who tells their story. We see the problems they are all going through. None of the family appear to be especially happy or fulfilled with their lives. Apart maybe from Dad Manus who now lives with his Moroccan lover Sam. But even he too has a sad aspect to his life. To me segments are meant to come together to make one whole but it did not happen here. The book seemed very disjointed each story was interesting enough and there were some highlights but just as I was getting into it we changed to someone else. Even at a later point we never came back to someone we had read of before and for me it was all too brief of a glimpse into their world.
Normally in a book for me the women are always the strongest and most well written. In this case to me they were weak, well OK apart from Alma the eldest daughter who is a journalist and tv presenter. At first she was opinionated and not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion but an attack at home leaves her fearful. That inner strength and ballsy attitude deserts her. The way she handles the reappearance of ex husband Mick didn't seem realistic to me and they slipped back into domesticity far too casually after so many years estrangement. Mick and his twin brother Liam were into politics. Mick is now Ireland's European Commissioner in Brussels while Liam (married to Alma's sister Acushla) is battling to regain his seat in the Dáil. Their storylines were boring and being honest politics doesn't interest me in the slightest. Mick's 'incident' was quite frankly ridiculous and even in this media obsessed age was a bit too far fetched.
Acushla's story was good but just too rushed for me. It barely scratched the surface of the emotions that could have easily been developed further. Then we had Connie (Acushla's daughter) and Nora (Alma's daughter) thrown in as well .Both getting their own sections when they just weren't needed. In fact to be honest several times I was getting confused as to who was who and how they were connected in the family. I never thought I would say this but easily the best parts of the book were when we heard from men (apart from Mick and Liam who like any politicians in Ireland you would just love to give them a piece of your mind) Manus and MacDara. Manus' section had some fun elements nicely balanced with the sensitive, realistic side of what he was experiencing with Sam. The way he deals with the clamping of his car has to be read to be believed. But by far the most gripping part of this book was the brother of the family MacDara. Criminally under utilised in my opinion. Brief glimpses were offered throughout the book but the reader only finally got into his head in the last section and despite the suffering he appeared to be going through( well as alluded to by his family members) I absolutely loved him and wanted more more more of his story. He had had a breakdown many years ago and I wanted more details. I wanted his opinions about his family and all the situations they find themselves in. What he had been up to unbeknownst to his family was really quite amazing. His voice was heard too late in the book and when it did start to shine through his section ended. I was happy enough with the outcome of the story but still the women of the family just fell flat and I ended up not invested in their personal stories.
Kathleen MacMahon was aiming to portray a snapshot of family life during the long hot summer of 2013. She did achieve this to some extent and parts of the writing are beautiful. You could see the potential within the pages but it just didn't all come together for me. I felt too many issues were thrown into the story and their explanations and solutions were rushed. Dealing with fewer problems and exploring them in more depth would have made for a better book. The Long Hot Summer is not the worst book I have read this year but far from the best. If you have a few hours by the pool pick this up but if you are looking for something more literary or even romance or comedy this is not the book for you. I think there is better things to come from Kathleen MacMahon so I will keep an eye out for her next book in the hopes that book three will be something that will appeal to me more.
The book opens as Deirdre - matriarch of the MacEntee family is glancing back through the scrapbook she has made over the years since she had her first encounter with now ex husband Manus. Having recently arrived from Kildare she fell head over heals for Manus and thought their union would last a lifetime. She had wanted to try her luck at becoming an actress and to some extent she was successful until the arrival of three children – Alma, Acushla and MacDara. Deirdre is now at the later stages of her life and feels age creeping up on her. Numerous things are starting to go wrong health wise and she realises she is not the sprightly young thing she once was. So Deirdre makes a momentous decision. When she has come to this conclusion she sets about arranging her birthday party where she will tell her family what the future holds. What immediately struck me was why on earth did Deirdre believe her solution would in any way help her family? To me there was no necessity for that idea to even enter her head. It would bring unnecessary hardship and suffering on a family who had been through so much.
After we meet Deirdre the rest of the book is split into segments. I say this because they are not chapters as such but longer. In each section we meet a new member of the family who tells their story. We see the problems they are all going through. None of the family appear to be especially happy or fulfilled with their lives. Apart maybe from Dad Manus who now lives with his Moroccan lover Sam. But even he too has a sad aspect to his life. To me segments are meant to come together to make one whole but it did not happen here. The book seemed very disjointed each story was interesting enough and there were some highlights but just as I was getting into it we changed to someone else. Even at a later point we never came back to someone we had read of before and for me it was all too brief of a glimpse into their world.
Normally in a book for me the women are always the strongest and most well written. In this case to me they were weak, well OK apart from Alma the eldest daughter who is a journalist and tv presenter. At first she was opinionated and not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion but an attack at home leaves her fearful. That inner strength and ballsy attitude deserts her. The way she handles the reappearance of ex husband Mick didn't seem realistic to me and they slipped back into domesticity far too casually after so many years estrangement. Mick and his twin brother Liam were into politics. Mick is now Ireland's European Commissioner in Brussels while Liam (married to Alma's sister Acushla) is battling to regain his seat in the Dáil. Their storylines were boring and being honest politics doesn't interest me in the slightest. Mick's 'incident' was quite frankly ridiculous and even in this media obsessed age was a bit too far fetched.
Acushla's story was good but just too rushed for me. It barely scratched the surface of the emotions that could have easily been developed further. Then we had Connie (Acushla's daughter) and Nora (Alma's daughter) thrown in as well .Both getting their own sections when they just weren't needed. In fact to be honest several times I was getting confused as to who was who and how they were connected in the family. I never thought I would say this but easily the best parts of the book were when we heard from men (apart from Mick and Liam who like any politicians in Ireland you would just love to give them a piece of your mind) Manus and MacDara. Manus' section had some fun elements nicely balanced with the sensitive, realistic side of what he was experiencing with Sam. The way he deals with the clamping of his car has to be read to be believed. But by far the most gripping part of this book was the brother of the family MacDara. Criminally under utilised in my opinion. Brief glimpses were offered throughout the book but the reader only finally got into his head in the last section and despite the suffering he appeared to be going through( well as alluded to by his family members) I absolutely loved him and wanted more more more of his story. He had had a breakdown many years ago and I wanted more details. I wanted his opinions about his family and all the situations they find themselves in. What he had been up to unbeknownst to his family was really quite amazing. His voice was heard too late in the book and when it did start to shine through his section ended. I was happy enough with the outcome of the story but still the women of the family just fell flat and I ended up not invested in their personal stories.
Kathleen MacMahon was aiming to portray a snapshot of family life during the long hot summer of 2013. She did achieve this to some extent and parts of the writing are beautiful. You could see the potential within the pages but it just didn't all come together for me. I felt too many issues were thrown into the story and their explanations and solutions were rushed. Dealing with fewer problems and exploring them in more depth would have made for a better book. The Long Hot Summer is not the worst book I have read this year but far from the best. If you have a few hours by the pool pick this up but if you are looking for something more literary or even romance or comedy this is not the book for you. I think there is better things to come from Kathleen MacMahon so I will keep an eye out for her next book in the hopes that book three will be something that will appeal to me more.
samstillreading's review against another edition
3.0
OK, I admit it. I started reading The Long, Hot Summer in the middle of a particularly freezing winter week. I was hoping that some of the warmth would transfer to me, huddled under blankets with only my fingers peeking out. I love family stories and I was interested to see how the MacEntees would handle their numerous upheavals over the course of the summer. The story begins with Deirdre, family matriarch, planning a grand party and her death. Basically, her death is a way of one-upping her estranged husband who left her for a man years ago. Manus has said that she’ll live forever, but she’ll prove him wrong! Deirdre is not keen on getting old, on being a faded star of the stage.
Each of the following chapters is told from the perspective of another one of the MacEntees. Alma is the next to tell her story – she’s a highflying journalist, only to be cut down in a random attack at home. Alma has an epiphany and starts to change – stopping dying her hair and moving from television to radio. There’s then the sensation of the year in Ireland as her ex-husband is caught stealing a pepper grinder. Who does he turn to? Alma, of course. Meanwhile, Alma’s sister Acushla has a deep dark secret she’s ready to tell – at the expense of her husband’s political career in Ireland. Both Alma and Acushla’s daughters have their own problems while Manus is now a carer for his lover. Sadly, tragedy strikes again but will this bring the MacEntees closer?
I liked the way The Long, Hot Summer was set out – the long chapters from different characters reminded me of Maeve Binchy’s books (such as Minding Frankie). However, I felt that there was something lost between the chapters, that they were more separate than joined. At times, it was like some of the previous events hadn’t happened. For example, after Acushla goes public with her secret, it doesn’t really flow into the following narrative. I would have thought a big shock like that, given that she was the talking point of Ireland’s media for days, would reverberate more. Perhaps it didn’t do so through the MacEntees to show how disparate they were to each other. Also, some things weren’t spelled out enough for me – what exactly was wrong with Sam? Why has Macdara sequestered himself since his breakdown, and what happened exactly? Given that other events were told in detail, I would have liked to have known more about these too.
Kathleen MacMahon’s writing is excellent and she certainly knows how to tell a story. I haven’t read This is How it Ends, but I’d be interested in doing so, given the stellar reviews for it. I just felt that this story didn’t flow as well as it could have – it seems to start and stop, rather like Manus’s beloved blue Jaguar. Not all the characters were likeable (Deirdre is an enigma that only starts being understandable as the story finishes) which is okay. But the ones I did like, such as Connie and Macdara, didn’t get enough page time to satisfy me. Perhaps fewer characters in greater depth would have made me happier or more reasoning as to why they acted how they did.
The Long, Hot Summer is a good book, but I had the feeling that something was missing to make it a great one.
Thank you to Hachette Australia for the book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Each of the following chapters is told from the perspective of another one of the MacEntees. Alma is the next to tell her story – she’s a highflying journalist, only to be cut down in a random attack at home. Alma has an epiphany and starts to change – stopping dying her hair and moving from television to radio. There’s then the sensation of the year in Ireland as her ex-husband is caught stealing a pepper grinder. Who does he turn to? Alma, of course. Meanwhile, Alma’s sister Acushla has a deep dark secret she’s ready to tell – at the expense of her husband’s political career in Ireland. Both Alma and Acushla’s daughters have their own problems while Manus is now a carer for his lover. Sadly, tragedy strikes again but will this bring the MacEntees closer?
I liked the way The Long, Hot Summer was set out – the long chapters from different characters reminded me of Maeve Binchy’s books (such as Minding Frankie). However, I felt that there was something lost between the chapters, that they were more separate than joined. At times, it was like some of the previous events hadn’t happened. For example, after Acushla goes public with her secret, it doesn’t really flow into the following narrative. I would have thought a big shock like that, given that she was the talking point of Ireland’s media for days, would reverberate more. Perhaps it didn’t do so through the MacEntees to show how disparate they were to each other. Also, some things weren’t spelled out enough for me – what exactly was wrong with Sam? Why has Macdara sequestered himself since his breakdown, and what happened exactly? Given that other events were told in detail, I would have liked to have known more about these too.
Kathleen MacMahon’s writing is excellent and she certainly knows how to tell a story. I haven’t read This is How it Ends, but I’d be interested in doing so, given the stellar reviews for it. I just felt that this story didn’t flow as well as it could have – it seems to start and stop, rather like Manus’s beloved blue Jaguar. Not all the characters were likeable (Deirdre is an enigma that only starts being understandable as the story finishes) which is okay. But the ones I did like, such as Connie and Macdara, didn’t get enough page time to satisfy me. Perhaps fewer characters in greater depth would have made me happier or more reasoning as to why they acted how they did.
The Long, Hot Summer is a good book, but I had the feeling that something was missing to make it a great one.
Thank you to Hachette Australia for the book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
debsd's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ruthie_the_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book, a lot. The characters are fun and interesting and different and challenging. One character in particular almost made me shout out loud 'BUT THAT'S EXACTLY HOW I FEEL!' when talking about child-induced sleep-deprivation. It was as if the author had climbed in my head and stolen my thoughts. I loved the structure of the story, written around all these many different characters in the same family, all going on slightly different journeys, all at different points in their lives. Very enjoyable. Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance copy.
abby_writes's review against another edition
4.0
Immersive novel of an Irish family of some renown and their defining summer. Each chapter is told from a single family member's POV, and they're all eccentric and creative and abrasive in their own ways. I normally don't go in on multiple POV novels, but I really liked this one.
briarsreviews's review against another edition
5.0
The Long, Hot Summer by Kathleen MacMahon is one of the loveliest books I've read this year.
Family drama, generations of Irish men & ladies, comedy, tragedy and character growth. What more could a girl ask for in novel? Not much else!!
I was truly surprised by how amazing this book was, considering it has so few reviews. It's by far one of my favourite reads and it will sit high atop my shelves. Kathleen MacMahon has a beautiful sense of writing style and her prose is just magnificent. I can't get enough of this book and I want more by her.
This story follows the MacEntees - an Irish family with four generations of men and women trying to deal with a long, hot summer. Deidre and Manus were once married, but Manus is now with his male lover and at Deidre is grasping with the fact that she is now "old" and in her 80s. Alma, Acushla and MacDara are their children and they all have to grasp with their own choices too. Alma and Acushla married twin brothers, and somehow their lives are echoing each other. The girls' children, Constance and Nora, are also dealing with their own lives choices. The entire book follows these characters one by one and lets us into a world of family drama, insanity and growth.
I would have loved to read a book like this in high school, when you have the opportunity to pick apart lines and themes within the story. I loved seeing how each character interacted and how life didn't end up the way they quite expected it. Lots of humors is thrown in with the tragedy, family drama is addressed in a very real way, and this book shows just how tough life can be (yet also how fruitful and silly we can make it). In summary, it's all about perspective.
Kathleen does a great job showing the differences between the generations and how they interact with one another. The conflict felt so real and the book felt like it could have been a non-fiction retelling (but it's not!). I really want to read more by Kathleen because she has a real knack for story telling. I was so attached to these characters and I was furious that this book had to end (and in the way that it did! I cried! I never cry at books!).
I HIGHLY recommend this book if you love fictional dramas, stories set in Ireland, and books about being a family.
Five out of five stars! I would give it more if I could.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Family drama, generations of Irish men & ladies, comedy, tragedy and character growth. What more could a girl ask for in novel? Not much else!!
I was truly surprised by how amazing this book was, considering it has so few reviews. It's by far one of my favourite reads and it will sit high atop my shelves. Kathleen MacMahon has a beautiful sense of writing style and her prose is just magnificent. I can't get enough of this book and I want more by her.
This story follows the MacEntees - an Irish family with four generations of men and women trying to deal with a long, hot summer. Deidre and Manus were once married, but Manus is now with his male lover and at Deidre is grasping with the fact that she is now "old" and in her 80s. Alma, Acushla and MacDara are their children and they all have to grasp with their own choices too. Alma and Acushla married twin brothers, and somehow their lives are echoing each other. The girls' children, Constance and Nora, are also dealing with their own lives choices. The entire book follows these characters one by one and lets us into a world of family drama, insanity and growth.
I would have loved to read a book like this in high school, when you have the opportunity to pick apart lines and themes within the story. I loved seeing how each character interacted and how life didn't end up the way they quite expected it. Lots of humors is thrown in with the tragedy, family drama is addressed in a very real way, and this book shows just how tough life can be (yet also how fruitful and silly we can make it). In summary, it's all about perspective.
Kathleen does a great job showing the differences between the generations and how they interact with one another. The conflict felt so real and the book felt like it could have been a non-fiction retelling (but it's not!). I really want to read more by Kathleen because she has a real knack for story telling. I was so attached to these characters and I was furious that this book had to end (and in the way that it did! I cried! I never cry at books!).
I HIGHLY recommend this book if you love fictional dramas, stories set in Ireland, and books about being a family.
Five out of five stars! I would give it more if I could.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
uptoolatereading's review against another edition
2.0
Everyone knows the MacAntees, infamous across the whole of Ireland they are no ordinary family. Made up of actors, TV stars and politicians they are always making headlines.
Deirdre the reluctant matriarch has had enough and is planning her own death. Not that any of her family members notice as they are far too wrapped up in their own woes and dilemmas. Her daughter Alma, in particular suffers a horrendous robbery which changes her life forever and that is simply the start of the longest summer ever for the whole clan.
Based on the title alone I was expecting a completely different book from what it actually turned out to be. Rather than a family coming together during the best time of the year, a bunch of self obsessed people are embroiled in their individual dramas oblivious to anything else around them. These people are family in name only and no matter how much I read I did not warm to anyone. There is no story as such, instead the chapters are a dissection of each family member and what a selfish bunch they were.
The book started well as we followed Deirdre leaving her small hometown behind to become an actress. I enjoyed reading about her rise to fame and her hardest role which was that of wife and mother. As such I was intrigued to see how her children had turned out after having parents constantly in the limelight. However the children as adults were not engaging at all. Deirdre’s eldest daughter, Alma started off as a ballsy full of life character, which made for an interesting read, but then she lost all that early on after a terrible incident and never really regained her original personality.
This book is like a British summer - starts off well but then comes to nothing and leaves you disappointed.
Deirdre the reluctant matriarch has had enough and is planning her own death. Not that any of her family members notice as they are far too wrapped up in their own woes and dilemmas. Her daughter Alma, in particular suffers a horrendous robbery which changes her life forever and that is simply the start of the longest summer ever for the whole clan.
Based on the title alone I was expecting a completely different book from what it actually turned out to be. Rather than a family coming together during the best time of the year, a bunch of self obsessed people are embroiled in their individual dramas oblivious to anything else around them. These people are family in name only and no matter how much I read I did not warm to anyone. There is no story as such, instead the chapters are a dissection of each family member and what a selfish bunch they were.
The book started well as we followed Deirdre leaving her small hometown behind to become an actress. I enjoyed reading about her rise to fame and her hardest role which was that of wife and mother. As such I was intrigued to see how her children had turned out after having parents constantly in the limelight. However the children as adults were not engaging at all. Deirdre’s eldest daughter, Alma started off as a ballsy full of life character, which made for an interesting read, but then she lost all that early on after a terrible incident and never really regained her original personality.
This book is like a British summer - starts off well but then comes to nothing and leaves you disappointed.
samstillreading's review
3.0
OK, I admit it. I started reading The Long, Hot Summer in the middle of a particularly freezing winter week. I was hoping that some of the warmth would transfer to me, huddled under blankets with only my fingers peeking out. I love family stories and I was interested to see how the MacEntees would handle their numerous upheavals over the course of the summer. The story begins with Deirdre, family matriarch, planning a grand party and her death. Basically, her death is a way of one-upping her estranged husband who left her for a man years ago. Manus has said that she’ll live forever, but she’ll prove him wrong! Deirdre is not keen on getting old, on being a faded star of the stage.
Each of the following chapters is told from the perspective of another one of the MacEntees. Alma is the next to tell her story – she’s a highflying journalist, only to be cut down in a random attack at home. Alma has an epiphany and starts to change – stopping dying her hair and moving from television to radio. There’s then the sensation of the year in Ireland as her ex-husband is caught stealing a pepper grinder. Who does he turn to? Alma, of course. Meanwhile, Alma’s sister Acushla has a deep dark secret she’s ready to tell – at the expense of her husband’s political career in Ireland. Both Alma and Acushla’s daughters have their own problems while Manus is now a carer for his lover. Sadly, tragedy strikes again but will this bring the MacEntees closer?
I liked the way The Long, Hot Summer was set out – the long chapters from different characters reminded me of Maeve Binchy’s books (such as Minding Frankie). However, I felt that there was something lost between the chapters, that they were more separate than joined. At times, it was like some of the previous events hadn’t happened. For example, after Acushla goes public with her secret, it doesn’t really flow into the following narrative. I would have thought a big shock like that, given that she was the talking point of Ireland’s media for days, would reverberate more. Perhaps it didn’t do so through the MacEntees to show how disparate they were to each other. Also, some things weren’t spelled out enough for me – what exactly was wrong with Sam? Why has Macdara sequestered himself since his breakdown, and what happened exactly? Given that other events were told in detail, I would have liked to have known more about these too.
Kathleen MacMahon’s writing is excellent and she certainly knows how to tell a story. I haven’t read This is How it Ends, but I’d be interested in doing so, given the stellar reviews for it. I just felt that this story didn’t flow as well as it could have – it seems to start and stop, rather like Manus’s beloved blue Jaguar. Not all the characters were likeable (Deirdre is an enigma that only starts being understandable as the story finishes) which is okay. But the ones I did like, such as Connie and Macdara, didn’t get enough page time to satisfy me. Perhaps fewer characters in greater depth would have made me happier or more reasoning as to why they acted how they did.
The Long, Hot Summer is a good book, but I had the feeling that something was missing to make it a great one.
Thank you to Hachette Australia for the book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Each of the following chapters is told from the perspective of another one of the MacEntees. Alma is the next to tell her story – she’s a highflying journalist, only to be cut down in a random attack at home. Alma has an epiphany and starts to change – stopping dying her hair and moving from television to radio. There’s then the sensation of the year in Ireland as her ex-husband is caught stealing a pepper grinder. Who does he turn to? Alma, of course. Meanwhile, Alma’s sister Acushla has a deep dark secret she’s ready to tell – at the expense of her husband’s political career in Ireland. Both Alma and Acushla’s daughters have their own problems while Manus is now a carer for his lover. Sadly, tragedy strikes again but will this bring the MacEntees closer?
I liked the way The Long, Hot Summer was set out – the long chapters from different characters reminded me of Maeve Binchy’s books (such as Minding Frankie). However, I felt that there was something lost between the chapters, that they were more separate than joined. At times, it was like some of the previous events hadn’t happened. For example, after Acushla goes public with her secret, it doesn’t really flow into the following narrative. I would have thought a big shock like that, given that she was the talking point of Ireland’s media for days, would reverberate more. Perhaps it didn’t do so through the MacEntees to show how disparate they were to each other. Also, some things weren’t spelled out enough for me – what exactly was wrong with Sam? Why has Macdara sequestered himself since his breakdown, and what happened exactly? Given that other events were told in detail, I would have liked to have known more about these too.
Kathleen MacMahon’s writing is excellent and she certainly knows how to tell a story. I haven’t read This is How it Ends, but I’d be interested in doing so, given the stellar reviews for it. I just felt that this story didn’t flow as well as it could have – it seems to start and stop, rather like Manus’s beloved blue Jaguar. Not all the characters were likeable (Deirdre is an enigma that only starts being understandable as the story finishes) which is okay. But the ones I did like, such as Connie and Macdara, didn’t get enough page time to satisfy me. Perhaps fewer characters in greater depth would have made me happier or more reasoning as to why they acted how they did.
The Long, Hot Summer is a good book, but I had the feeling that something was missing to make it a great one.
Thank you to Hachette Australia for the book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com